There is no doubt that stress starts to play a role when our busy schedules get on top of us. Effective time management can help you keep on top of your workload and keep the stress at bay. Here are seven of our top tips for time management…

To Do Lists – Don’t avoid the ugly tasks

Do the work tasks you are trying to avoid when you’re at your peak and keep procrastination at bay. Work around your internal body clock.

If you find that you’re more of a morning person and your concentrate is lost later in the day, do those mind numbing tasks earlier in the day and the tasks you enjoy later in the afternoon when you’re struggling to get motivated.

Get into a habit of writing Your To Do list just before you leave work so you can return the next day and hit the ground running.

Learn to prioritise – Do the most important things first

Effective time management is all about prioritising your tasks and doing the most important things first. The easiest way of managing your workload effectively is prioritising each task. The Motivation Expert suggests prioritising tasks as follows:

A = Top priority jobs – those which must be completed today

B = Jobs that should be completed today

C = Jobs that you’d prefer to complete today but can put off until tomorrow

D = Jobs where the deadline is some way off and you can complete later

If you are having problems prioritising your tasks or there are two tasks that seem as urgent as each other, speak to your manager who will be able to clarify which task is more important or better still, set priority of tasks in your regular meetings.

Be Proactive Not Reactive – Don’t fight fires

Encourage your employees and colleagues to be proactive and not reactive and pre-empt any possible problems with project management, client management or general day to day work tasks.

There is little point having an ‘ostridge in the sand mentality’ because when the problem does reach the surface and become known to your manager, it will more likely take longer to fix and use more resources. Ways to avoid this are:

• set up regular work in progress meetings and catch up sessions
• put reporting mechanisms in place and
• establish benchmarks or key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure workload.

These are a good way to foresee any problems before the proverbial hits the fan in an office.

Learn to Delegate – You are not an island

Delegation plays a defining role in being able to manage your workload. You need to be able to let go and trust your staff and/or colleagues to take on part of your workload. There are many advantages to delegating work:

• The motivation of employees is increased as you trust them with more responsibilities.
• It increases employee’s self confidence and leads to development of decision making skills.
• It encourages an environment where creative ideas and alternative ways of working are expressed.
• It saves time – we can achieve at least twice as more through delegation than we can by doing all the work by ourselves.

It can be quite difficult granting someone else the authority and responsibility and they may make mistakes along the way and not do everything as you may have liked. However, with patience and guidance, it can alleviate the less crucial parts of your workload leaving you to work on more important tasks.

Managing expectations – Learn to say no

Effective time management can sometimes be more about managing expectations from your manager and/or colleagues. While there may be occasions where you work overtime, this should be an exception rather than the rule. If you find that you are continually working more than a standard 8 hour day through no fault of your own, speak to your manager about:

• assigning extra resources;
• delegating your workload to other employees or;
• hiring a temp or casual staff member

This should all help you bring your workload down to a more manageable level and allow you to skip out the door at a reasonable hour.

Manage your employees and colleagues – Don’t Let Them Manage You

Attending to emails or tasks and answering adhoc questions or the telephone can take up valuable time in your day. It may only be a task that only takes five or ten minutes but that can easily add up during the day but this can be avoided by:

• encourage your employees and colleagues to save non urgent questions for meetings where you can discuss the project;
• asking colleagues to email you when rather than come to your desk or call you directly so you can attend to the email when you have time;
• making your priorities known to your colleagues and ask them if you can do their task later after you have finished your more important tasks.

Take control back of your workload and don’t let your colleagues dictate your work patterns. Attend to urgent or more important tasks first and attend to the tasks further down your list later on.

Manage yourself – Time management is a myth

It is also important to manage yourself and make sure that you are hitting your deadlines, not working excessive amounts of overtime and also taking regular breaks throughout the day. It is important to set aside regular breaks in the day for the following reasons:

• decreases levels of procrastination and work avoidance;
• maintains the level of quality and productivity across the day;
• increases your concentrate and motivation levels;
• reduces stress and maintains your health.

Remember you can’t manage time – there are only 24 hours in a day. The only thing you can manage is yourself, your colleagues to a certain extent and your workload so incorporate these time management tips into your workday to create more of a work-life balance that will have you leaving the office at a reasonable hour.

Your long term dream may have been to work from home but reality has hit, you are suffering from a severe case of cabin fever and you keep refreshing your email every five seconds, desperate to connect with someone.

You are decidedly lonely and miss having lunch with your colleagues, Friday night drinks and even that annoying work colleague who had a crush on you doesn’t seem so bad anymore.

So how do you cope with social isolation when working from home? Here are some tips and career advice to overcome the loneliness and boredom.

Join an industry association

Joining an industry association will not only further your career but it will give you an opportunity to meet other people who are in a similar or related industry. Industry associations will hold networking events such as education seminars, dinners, conferences and so forth which will give you a chance to meet new people and give you a well deserved break from staring at the blank screen on your computer. And remember, all industry association fees are tax deductable.

Enjoy a change of scenery

If you work in a virtual office, there is no hard and fast rule that you need to be surrounded by four walls and a window (if you’re lucky). The wonder of modern wireless internet means that you can conduct your meetings via the library, a coffee shop, at a park or even at the beach. Instead of conducting your meetings via the telephone or the Internet, arrange to catch up with your clients face to face occasionally to break the monotony and arrange to meet friends and family regularly for coffee and lunch to break up the day.

Invest in further education

While it may convenient to do a course online or via correspondence, going to a college or education facility and seeing your classmates face to face may decrease your social isolation. It will give you a legitimate reason to get out of your home office and enjoy a change of pace and environment. Like industry associations, investing in further education is tax deductible if it is directly related to your job.

Join your local gym

Joining a gym is a good way to increase your social networks, decrease your social isolation and get fit and healthy at the same time. Joining a gym gives you the option of exercising by yourself or engaging in group exercise classes like cycling or boxing. Whether you’re doing group classes or flying solo, you will be surrounded by other people that you can speak to and it’s a good way to meet friends who have a common interest with you.

Walk your dog

Australia has one of the highest rates of pet ownership in the world with over two thirds of households owning pets. While it may simplistic, walking your prized pooch forces you to get out of the house, take a break from work and increases your social interaction. According to the Australian Companion Animal Council, pets help people to build social bridges in communities, acting as social lubricants with neighbours or strangers, or as motivators for walking and use of parks.

Working from home is a luxury but it can soon feel like a prison sentence and very unmotivating if you let boredom to set in, allow yourself become socially isolated and cut yourself off from important social networks. Working from home doesn’t mean you need to be chained to the keyboard. Taking regular breaks during the day will leave you more refreshed and relaxed and in a better psychological frame of mine to start tackling those deadlines.